


Jealousy

by jarsen80



Series: Kodiak (eng) [3]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Cute bears, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2018-11-14 17:37:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11212932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jarsen80/pseuds/jarsen80
Summary: A new bear appears....





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [happybluebirde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/happybluebirde/gifts).



  
  
  
  
  


 

 

 

Matthew Howard and Sarah Clayton at first didn’t believe the story told by the island's rangers. After all, they could be teasing them. They were documentalists, came to cover the story of the bear rescued from an illegal circus, wildlife conservationists were able to readapt him to the wild and now they would release him in the wildlife reserve in Kodiak, Alaska.

 

It was front page news in the media, because thanks to this case, the authorities discovered a network of animal trafficking widespread in North America. The documentary would go directly to Animal Planet using the voice of some celebrity as narrator - shuffled names of all type: from Johansson to Clooney-.

 

"Actually, first it was just a male bear. Now there are two: Happened last summer, it was something curious at first, Ryan followed that bear during that season. At some point he disappeared from his usual places and he believed that bear was killed by hunters. Fortunately he found him again, grazing near of his den. But later…"

 

Charles Fritzberg, the head of Kodiak's rangers, showed a couple of photos to the documentalists.

 

Sarah was the first to grab the pictures, after turning off her cigarette in the duck-shaped ashtray on Charles's desk.   
She blinked twice, seeing the somewhat unfocused images that the other ranger managed to capture.

 

This is a…?"   
  
"A cooler, yes," replied Charles unmistakably.   
  
"This is the bear?"                              

Matthew took the photos from Sara to look them more closely.

 

“No, it was not him. This is the case: the young male bear was wounded, unable to fish or feed more than grass. This other male bear, was carrying that cooler loaded with salmon that he fished from the river to feed the wounded bear near of his den."

 

Matthew laughed almost mockingly. 

 

"Are you sure that it was not a female bear? It may happen that a female bear has lost her cubs and developed her maternal instinct for this juvenile bear."

 

Sarah had studied the Kodiak bears for years, it was her passion, and she was trying to give a logical explanation to that absurd image.

 

"Believe me, we think the same thing at first. But this is a bear ... a male "   
  
"And how…?"   
  
Charles gave them the next picture.

 

Sarah and Matthew's eyes widened.   
  
"This was taken weeks later. The younger bear had recovered. I guess the heat season extended on them a little more than normal."

 

Two male bears mating. Had such a case been documented before? She had never seen anything like this before. But the most disconcerting behaviour was the care of a wounded bear. Bears are not sociable, much less charitable. They only socialize when it's for mating and in the zones of fishing,  when the salmon is abundant; The rest of the year they're avoided among them,  especially the males.

 

"These two have been together all this year and Ryan thinks they even hibernated together in the same lair."

 

“Gay ‘Care Bears’?” 

 

Matthew's question remained floating in the office for a second. Immediately after, Sarah's cell phone rang. It was the call that they were waiting for.

 

Finally the rescued bear had arrived in Kodiak.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\

  
  
  
  
  
  


Actually, it wasn’t that Jared couldn’t have friends. In fact, Chad, that annoying bear that never stop giving acidic comments to his person, is one of them - very much in spite of Jensen -, Jason is also jared’s friend .... But this bear ....

 

To start his stupid name.   
  


Stephen. 

 

Just remembering it made Jensen roll his eyes. The bear had a strange accent that made his name sound like  _ ‘Stefan’ _ . It was not his fault that he was confused and inadvertently called him like that.

 

_ 'My name is Stefan,chérie. And yours?' _

 

_ Jared let out a silly giggle that made Jensen snap his tongue. _

 

_ 'He's Jared and I'm Jensen,' he answered dryly, making Jared to look at him perplexed. _

 

He thought that with the dry reception, that bear would go to other place more friendly to strut, but no. It turns out that he clicked with Jared somehow. And now  _ ‘Stefan’ _ had settled not far from their den, 

with the excuse that he didn’t know the territory and needed a reliable guide like Jared.

 

"I'm from Canada,” explained the jerk an afternoon, as he escorted them back from fishing, never leaving Jared's side. As if that were something interesting. Jensen came from the other side of the northern mountains and he didn’t boast about it.

 

"Stephen is coming from the other side of the great sea, Jensen, can you imagine coming from so far?"   
  
Jensen only made a nod of agreement that echoed in the cave, as he lay back on the nest he shared with Jared.

 

That was another thing. Jared kept talking about the wonderful 'Stefan'. Stefan this, Stefan that.   
  
"He says that back in Canada he was an artist ... I don’t know what that means, but it seems that humans had him in high esteem and when he decided to quit his ‘career’, they brought him here to live a normal bear’s life, is not that great? We have a famous bear among humans as a neighbor!"

 

"I don’t know what  _ ‘Canada’ _ is or being an  _ ‘artrist’ _ but humans are not reliable. It’s best to avoid them. Stefan was lucky to not meet the most feral humans who just want to see us dead and take our skin off."

 

Jensen wasn’t a party pooper but this was the real life. Each year, in certain areas of the island, these barbarians already killed many bears, especially mature males. Not for nothing Jensen decided to live on this side of the Mountains. For some reason, those motherfuckers didn’t come to this area and the bear community flourished.

 

"For the umpteenth time Jen, his name is Stephen and he’s an ‘artist’, not an ‘artrist’”, Jared replied, glancing sideways as he lay down beside him. 

 

The few rays of the afternoon sun, saying goodbye to the day, sneaked into the cave ripping golden reflections from the deep brown fur of his lovely partner. Jared had a beautiful skin and Jensen loved to bury his snout in the soft fur of his neck. Sipping his scent and resting beside him at the end of the day was something that always relaxed him.

 

"Jen, does Stephen bother you?"   
  
The question, abrupt and direct, made the lethargy in Jensen's bones vanish completely.

 

"Bothers me? Pffftt sweetheart, it doesn’t bother me at all "   
  
His response was almost a reflex. So fast that it made even Jensen himself surprised.

 

Stephen wasn’t annoying him. He was just a chatty bear like Chad. And if he could endure the idiocy of the blond boy and his big mouth, he could tolerate the airs of grandeur of the new 'neighbor'.

 

Stephen didn’t bother him at all.   
  
And with that idea floating in his mind, trying to see certainties in it, is that Jensen fell asleep that night.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_A month later…._  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Jason shook his head, giggling.  
  
"What? It’s true! He doesn’t bother me! "  
  
Jensen huffed, crossing his arms as he sat propping his body against a hulking Sitka spruce trunk. From there, he had a privileged view of what was happening on the banks of the river. Jared was there with Chad and ... what a surprise! Stephen was also there fiddling on the shore with him.

 

Jared always goes to play at the river shore while Jensen fishes. Generally, the games ends when Jensen finishes his work and then they eat the salmon together.   
  
But today Jared ate with Chad and Stephen. The jerk of 'Stefan’ had caught ‘too many fishes’ and invited Jared to eat with him. Jensen forced a smile and told Jay not to worry “go to eat with the ‘Canadiethic’”- _ ‘Canadian Jen’ _ -

 

And it wasn’t that Jensen was spying, no sir. He was resting from the morning fishing with Jason and had no better place than this one to do that, leaning on this tree. It was his favorite resting place. His friend knew that.   
  
"If it doesn’t bother you then what are you doing there, spying on Jared in the river?"   
  
"I don’t spy him!"

 

"Jensen, face it: you're jealous. The new guy rile you up and Jared is too excited about his presence to notice. "   
  
Jensen growled low and pulled a strand of grass with one of his claws, very close to where his friend was. There, Jason knew that it wasn’t time to continue socializing with him. The bears were like that, sullen and lonely. It wasn’t something Jason took personal, their nature was like that.

 

All alone and with Jason’s words making noise in his head, he stopped watching the idyllic scene that was unfolding in front of his eyes and looked at the ground.   
  
Nothing of what have been happening to Jensen with Jared had happened to him before with another bear, and the idea that maybe this heat season Jared already had other options on the menu was disturbing him too much.

 

Jensen had no prospect other than Jared this season. And for the next. And for the other too.   
He hadn’t talked to him about it, but Jensen was sure that Jared was thinking the same...   
  
Or maybe he was wrong and he was the only stupid abnormal bear that was going through these things. After all how many bears committed to their partners did he had known?   
  


The scene before his eyes was developing. The new bear was running splashing water around Jared and Chad. Jared laughed without taking his eyes off him. He was happy and carefree. Jared has always had the most beautiful laugh.   
  
Looked like he didn’t need more of Jensen’s care, a healthy young bear; And it was obvious that he had already seen with whom to spend the heat season, like any regular bear in this Island.

 

Jensen didn’t have to be a genius to see what would happen next. It was only a matter of time.

 

Six days later the catastrophe happened.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


All that day Jensen’s grumpiness was taking the best of him. The scent changed in the air and, as every year, the little quarrels between males had been coming out of proportion immediately without any cause. Fights over territory and females were a daily occurrence. Not even the always calmed Jason was free from his own bad temperament; Blamed the season for it. But the bad mood in Jensen's case had been accumulated for some time and had a name stamped on the forehead.

 

So, what he had seen coming up for some time, was unleashed that afternoon

 

Jensen had decided clear his moodiness by giving Jared a surprise and what better than fresh honey from a honeycomb he had been tracking a few miles away in a beautiful lavender field. After struggling with the bees, who didn't appreciate him messing with their hive, Jensen returned, triumphant with his trophy, to home.

 

Not finding Jared in their cave, he went to look for him near the wood, imagining that perhaps he would be grazing or putting together a new bouquet of fresh flowers to decorate their home.   
But it wasn’t that way he found him and, in a heartbeat, everything went to hell.   
  
Jensen only saw red.

 

In one minute Stephen was nibbling affectionately at Jared's neck and at the other, he was on the ground, under the weight of over half a ton of Kodiak bear and with his neck being suffocated by Jensen's huge jaw.   
  
Jared screeched desperately, trying to stop the attack from Jensen, who didn’t see or hear anything, only the faint grunts of his rival below him.

 

Stephen threw claws with his huge paws right and left, seeking to escape from Jensen's jaws. He had strength and was a young bear, but he didn’t have the experience or skill that Jensen possessed.   
  
"NOOO, JENSEN STOP!!!"   
  
Jensen let go Stephen as soon as he felt the blow of Jared stinging on his left cheek. Jared looked at him with a mixture of bewilderment and horror drawn across his face. He was sure that his own face reflected the same emotions.

 

It was the first time Jared had attacked him. Hell, maybe, it was the first time he was violent against someone.   
  
Jensen didn’t take his eyes off his partner, not knowing what to do or what to say Completely unfocused, he couldn’t prevent Stephen's counterattack, which knocked him to the ground with a single blow from one of his paws.

 

The other bear stood on his legs, showing his strength, his deep roar rumbled through the woods. It was the typical pose to challenge a rival to a duel.   
  
Jensen touched his cheek and the scratch on his skin seemed even more real. He looked at Stephen, then back at Jared, who was moaning slowly with tears in his eyes. Then he knew it was a losing battle.

 

Jensen huffed, shaking his head, it was like a bad joke, he was a joke. He had nothing to fight for.   
  
"He’s all yours, take care of him" he whispered bitterly; His rival watched him in dismay. Jensen scurried away, plunging into the bushes, wanting to forget all that once that copse made him feel.

 

That night he returned to his old den, tossing a pair of badgers who had settled into his absence. The Moon showed her face but he lost the urge to contemplate her, as he did every night. With no desire but to hide in the depths of his cave, he closed his eyes wishing that everything would had been a stupid summer dream.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Impossible things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jensen wishing impossible things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter!! :)
> 
> Sorry for grammatical errors.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Spring continued on Kodiak Island. The days were sunny and pleasant, with a light South breeze combing the grasses that were covering the soft raised hill at the foot of a small stream. The trees were scarce in this part of the island, and the few that were there, were clustered at the edge of the stream. They weren’t like the huge spruces that dominated most to the northwest. These were smaller and thinner, young firs that still had to grow.

 

The bucolic landscape didn’t represent the mood of the lonely bear that lived in that place. The sunny day only made him want to get back to his den. But life goes on and what happened a couple of days ago shouldn’t affect him that way. He had things to do.

 

His territory had been abandoned for a year, so he had to deal with it urgently. His lair was neglected too so he had to do some cleaning.Then there was the food, and since the river that he used to go fishing no longer seemed a good choice, he had to settle for the fish in the small stream on the hill. Although these weren’t as tasty as the salmon.

 

So you could say yes, Jensen was busy. He wasn’t having time to think about anything else. At least, until the day was over and, again, he would sink into his den to chew on every little detail of that dreadful afternoon. Because, if Jensen had anything, it was that ability to be a masochist and remember every painful moment of each of his failures and the latter took the not so pleasant honor of taking the crown about it.

 

However, during the day a frenzy was invading him trying to mark his territory in any possible way. Jensen's rock, Jensen's trees, Jensen's cave ... It was all his. It was giving him an unsuspected satisfaction to have a site that only had his name written everywhere.  


 

No one could take away his lair or his trees or his rock.

 

The urge to mark his territory was stronger than any other instinct and, therefore, made him more aggressive with any visitor who dared to approach him. There was no difference, a bear looking for a mate, a fox hunting a prey, a deer looking for berries … all were the same thing, he was driving them all away. No one was welcome in His territory.

 

So when Jason appeared one afternoon trying to talk to him, he couldn’t get closer than a few yards. Jensen's grunts warned him that he couldn’t stay in that place for long. It was impossible to try to reason with him being in that state.  


 

"Whatever, the island is very big, Jensen, you can find someone better," he said as a goodbye.

 

 

Jensen meant that he had already overcome it, that he felt nothing; Which was not true, he wouldn’t find anyone like ...  


 

But instead, he turned and decided that it was a good time to continue adding more marks with his claws to the fir tree where he liked to stop to eat the catch of the day.

 

Jason didn’t understand. He was doing what a regular bear was supposed to do. No more delusional desires to want impossible things.  


 

The bears were sullen and they lived all alone. Jensen wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary.

  
  
  
  


 

 

 

 

That day he hadn’t left his den. He felt exhausted. He didn’t want to go to the river, nor he wanted to patrol his territory that he was having jealously guarded all this time.  


 

Today Jensen couldn’t pretend that everything was fine.  


 

For some stupid reason, he had picked up those insipid deep brown flowers, Chocolate Lilies. Now he just watched them. He wanted to tear them out of his sight, at the same time, wanted to hoard them up and find some way to keep them fresh for the rest of the year.

 

Those dissonant chords in his soul made everything even more frustrating. Jensen didn’t want to remember him but he did everything to do it. And he hated Jared, because he couldn’t stop loving him.  


 

He loved him.  


 

And it was painful and embarrassing, because he couldn't be more idiot. Regular bears don’t supposed be like…

 

 

The clatter was loud. There was no doubt that an intruder had come close to his lair. Jensen shook his back trying to get rid of his melancholy. He wasn’t going to let his home be taken away.  


 

Jensen growled from within his den warning the intruder of his presence, normally this was enough to drive away any stranger. When he emerged from his lair, he saw who was waiting for him at the entrance.

 

It was Jared ... all sprawled in the entry of Jensen’s den, with his red basket, full of honey and wild berries. Apparently he had tripped over one of the rocks at the entrance, but somehow he hadn’t overturned his precious cargo.  


 

He didn't know whether to laugh or get angry.  


 

The chocolate bear was rising slowly from the ground, groaning and shaking his back to remove dust and litter from his fur.

 

"Jared," he snapped coldly.  


 

Jared looked up and his iridescent eyes met Jensen's green eyes, grim and uneasy. There was no glow in them as it was in the past, when he had get used to catch Jensen's gaze on him. There was no bright happiness in them or mischievous glint, only anxiety and gloom.

 

The heavy silence went on for another minute -at least, Jensen thought that - and it was uncomfortable. Like a wait that stretches to not face the end.  


"What do you want?"  


Jensen had no patience or desire to listen to someone who he wanted to forget with all his might.

 

Jared seemed to get smaller and smaller, as if that were possible for a bear of his size. Swallowing nervously, he gave a little push to the red basket with his snout.  


 

"I ... I ... brought you honey ... and ... uhm ... berries? ... I thought maybe ..."

 

"I already have berries here, Jared and with regard to honey...well it’s not something that I like to eat too much", _unless I share it with you_ , he omitted to add; But Jensen wasn’t going to admit that in front of him.

  
Jared nodded slightly, no longer looking at him and trying to smile with little success.

 

"I see ..." he said scratching the back of his neck, clearly troubled about the whole affair.  


"If you don’t have more to do here, then ..."  


"Sorry, Jensen, I didn’t want to ...", said Jared with a hurried trembling voice.  


"No, Jared. I understood, it will not happen again, don’t worry," he hastened to say, not wanting to know any explanation, masking his anguish with indifference.

 

But then Jared took a step toward him, shaking his head. 

 

"No Jensen, you don't understand: I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just wanted to .."  


"Jared ..." Jensen snarled. This was his territory, his home. He was a strange bear now _-Jared was not his, never was-_. He wasn’t going to allow anyone to challenge him in his own home.

 

Jensen stood on two legs, though his heart screamed that he shouldn't attack him _-Jared was part of his soul, he couldn’t fight with his own being!-_ He wanted to eradicate that feeling of his being, but it was difficult. It hurt worse than a blow, and it was deeper than a vicious bite tearing his flesh.

 

He growled but it sounded more like a lament, lowering his guard. He shook his head, eyes bursting with tears.  


 

Jared had him on his knees and he didn’t even need to give him a blow.

 

He wanted to hide in the depths of his den and never leave again.  


 

"Jen, listen to me," Jared begged, shyly approaching to him. "I was afraid you'd kill him ... I don’t want you to kill another bear for me. I'm not worth anyone's life and you don’t deserve the blood of another bear in your hands ... You're not like the cruel humans you talked to me about, and I know you're not like those northern feral bears who murder without thinking."

 

Jensen turned away, not wanting to look at him, wanted to go to his cave, but he kept it from him.  


 

"I was not going to let you do that to yourself, Jen ... but I didn’t want to hurt you, I never had that intention. That's why I ask for your forgiveness."

 

"But you didn’t anything wrong, Jared, and I’m not talking about this," he pointed at his cheek. That was the least of it he was caring about now. "It's not your fault, I didn’t understand; that’s all".  


 

"What's not my fault, Jen? What didn’t you understand? Tell me...please"

 

Jared sobbed like a unconsolable cub, perhaps because everything seemed to affect him twice as much as the other bears ... Jensen thought that maybe it was because of his size. His heart seemed to contain twice as many feelings as other bears. That’s why Jensen always hated when Jared cried.

 

Feeling like a shit by what was buzzing inside him and with the pain on Jared's face, Jensen threw in the towel. He had already on his knees. What would make him admit his defeat?

 

"... What I didn’t understand was that you're not mine and I'm not yours, Jared." His trembling voice was no longer trying to hide what he felt. "Bears don’t belong to anyone, we are free. Each one of us belongs to ourselves and no one else. That is our nature and I didn’t understand that ... I didn’t understand that I cannot have you."

 

He smiled despite the tears that clouded his eyes, what a pathetic bear he was.

 

Jared, who had not stopped sobbing all this time, came closer to him and hugged him by the neck with one of his big paws.  


 

"Who said you couldn’t, Jen?"  


 

Jensen disentangled himself from his embrace, no longer wanting to continue leaving the door of his soul open to doubt. He wanted to do the right thing. No longer wanted impossible things.

 

"Go away, Jared, go to rest," he said softly, ending the conversation by looking for the last time at Jared's beautiful face. The younger bear shook his head, but Jensen had nothing more to say.  


 

A few minutes later, he slipped into his lair, feeling Jared's gaze on him.

  
  
  
  
  
  


 

 

 

 

The next morning, Jensen found a huge bouquet of Forget-Me-Nots, Wild Geraniums, and Chocolate Lilies on his den’s entry. He shook his head trying to not smile like a dork about it and looked around for his not-so-secret admirer.  


 

"I know it's you, Jared."

 

Jensen could see the huge bear trying to hide his enormous body behind a small bush of berries at close range. Jared wasn’t good at camouflage. He had to stop himself from laughing. He would never understand why Jared thought he had less stature or smaller body, it was one of the many things about him that Jensen found so adorable.  


 

"I'm not Jared! It was not me!” He exclaimed, thickening his voice.  


 

"Anyway, go away before that squirrel confuses your snout with a succulent berry and wants to take a bite."

 

“What??... Auch! Fucking squirrel!!! Shooo!!! "  


 

Jensen chuckled, while he was going toward the stream in search of the catch of the day.  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The unexpected gifts were appearing the following days: One morning, a mound of colorful river pebbles was neatly piled close to his cave; One midday a strange tangle of plumes of all sorts, mixed with shreds of green-colored cloth was placed at the foot of the spruce that had suffered most from Jensen's claws; One afternoon, he found, near from the creek, an immense hollowed trunk that had been carefully cleaned up -hauled up there from who knows where- ideal for storing food or his treasures.

 

But one day the gifts stopped and it wasn’t that Jensen was getting used to be spoiled or something, but that surprised him too much. It was already late in the afternoon and Jared didn’t show up. He didn’t see him hiding behind a tree or bush, nor could he trace his scent in the vicinity.  


 

Later, seeing the Sun was sinking on the horizon and there was no trace of the chestnut bear, Jensen decided to take a tour of Jared's territory. It wasn’t that he was worried, he just wanted to know if Jared was okay.

 

He arrived at the grove when the first stars were already twinkle on the sunset sky. He caught the air searching for his scent and the intense smell of something he thought he would only remember in nightmares flooded his being.  


 

His blood froze as he heard the sound of something like a thunder rumbling in the grove.

 

The rest happened in a second, or so Jensen felt. He ran to the source of the explosion, colliding with the vegetation and barely containing the scream that knotted in his throat.

 

 _It couldn’t be_ _possible. It couldn’t be_ _possible. It couldn’t be_ _possible. It couldn’t be_ _possible. It couldn’t be_ _possible. It couldn’t be_ _possible._

 

From the gloom Stephen came out in terror from nowhere, fleeing in the opposite direction of the noise. His eyes were wide and he was gasping in panic.  


 

"THEY’RE HERE!!! THEY’RE HERE!!!!" He shouted in horror, pulling Jensen off a leg so he wouldn’t go to that direction. "They're here too! They're here!"

 

Stephen was trembling from head to toe. Jensen had no doubts to whom he referred.  


 

The motherfuckers had come all this way.  


 

"Jared!" He exclaimed to the blonde bear, "Where is he?!"

 

"Jared? No ... no ... Jensen! we must go away now! they don’t…!"  


 

Another explosion made them both stop the struggling in which they had become entangled.

 

"WHERE IS JARED, STEPHEN ?!" Jensen roared, shaking the blonde by the shoulders. The tremor in his body made him bend his knees and his stomach twisted from thinking that maybe ...  


 

"... on the river ... the last time .. I saw him there ... he wanted ..."  


 

His heart stopped for a moment, and his throat was tightened closed to the point that he felt dizzy.  


 

Without wasting time he ran to the river, with Stephen screaming behind him, tearing the night with his shouting.

  
  


 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Running

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jensen at the rescue...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I had a complicated week. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I already told you dude, I saw it with my own eyes,” said George, drinking the last sip of beer from his bottle.

 

Jimmy made a gesture of disdain with his hand and continued to watch the game on the old TV of that fisherman's bar, on the outskirts of the small town of Kodiak.

 

The place was dodgy as hell, but the ‘picturesque’ clientele was entertaining. They didn’t called it as ‘The Kodiak's biggest navigation hazard’ only for fun. The fights and disputes between the rough customers were common on that sordid little bar. George, Jimmy and old Ron were visiting it every time the hunting season began on the Island.

 

This time, Jimmy and Ron had come earlier to Kodiak, looking for a little more excitement at the already routine sports hunt they practiced. Their hunting and fishing permits were in order, they shouldn’t worry because the Alaska Fish and Game Department authorities were behind their asses in this regard. Which would get them into trouble was what George, his local guide, was offering them, to give a little more ‘adrenaline’ to the hunt this year.

 

“That bear is much taller than 9 feet on two legs ... I never saw a bear that big on the island. It should easily weigh more than 1500 lb, a formidable specimen.”

 

“We've gone through all the fucking hunting grounds on this island and the surrounding areas with you, George. How come that big beast appears right before your nose?”

 

Ron was fed up with stories of supposed sightings of what the islanders claimed was “The Legendary Giant Bear of Alaska,” it was like the search for the holy grail of the Grizzly bears.

 

The giant bear of Alaska or Kodiak bear usually reaches less than 9 feets and its weight is around 1320 lbs. The fables about the specimens that surpass these measures were but myths that the locals sold to the novice hunters in search of adventure; Jimmy and Ron were not, so it surprised them that, their so far reliable guide, wanted to fool them with such an absurd fairy tale.

 

“Exactly” George put the empty bottle on the table as he touched the thin red-haired beard. “This bear was never in the hunting grounds ... it's in the Refuge.”

 

_Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge… that’s why, pretty smart beast,_ thought Ron, while he was removing the label from the beer he was nursing in his hands. If that story was true it could be an interesting hunting this year.

 

Jimmy’s interest in the game stopped at that moment.

 

“And how in hell you know this?”

 

“Last month, a group of documentarians needed a guide; Guess who they hired?” George stretched his arms, puffing his chest, took a cigar, and turned it on. “In short, they wanted to see hunting grounds and certain fishing areas.   
One of the cameras, who was having too many tequilas one night, told me about a huge bear they found a few days earlier, in the Refuge.”

 

Jimmy laughed mockingly and opened his mouth to speak, but George stopped him.

 

“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking; I didn’t believe him either. But the guy showed me the fucking recording,” he took a drag of the cheap cigar that hung from his fingers and approached his interlocutors conspiratorially. “It looked giant, but I didn’t settle for it. So I decided to go to the site which that guy had indicated to me.”

 

George pulled out his cell phone and showed the evidence.

 

They were huge footprints at least 11,8 inch wide, Ron estimated. But that wasn’t all. The next picture was the bear in all his grandeur, with his back against a very large Sitka spruce trunk.

 

Ron had no words. His hunting partner didn’t either.

 

George knew then that the two hunters would have no objection to playing a little out of the Law. The guide was licking his lips thinking of the small fortune they would spend to make him drive them there, because the little ‘adventure’ wouldn’t cost them cheap at all.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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Running, as if his soul was chasing it by hellhounds, was no problem for Jensen. What he found on the bank of the river was what really discouraged him.

 

Floating carelessly on the riverbank was Jared's red basket.

 

His attention focused instantly on the river rapids, not wanting to stop to think of the morbid possibilities that his mind was already pondering. With his hope hanging on a thread, he was searching to see the chestnut bear clinging to some rocky ledge. His voice screaming for Jared was muted by the roar of the running waters.

 

“Jensen!!”

 

The sudden exclamation, accompanied by a blow to his left side, baffled him. For a moment, his own eyes tricked him  and he thought it was Jared, but Stephen's anguished face dissolved the mirage. He had followed Jensen to there, he was surprised.

 

“Here are footprints …”, he explained, extending a trembling paw toward where the grass began. The Sun would be gone in a few minutes, if they didn’t hurry, the night would prevent them from pursuing their search.   
After the second shot, nothing was heard, but the scent told both bears that humans were still close -they wouldn’t stop in the nightly darkness, if not made them more dangerous-.

 

Jensen stepped closer to the footprints, but they were smaller than Jared's. He shook his head and returned to the river, letting out a growl that sounded like a mournful clamor.

 

He asked the heavens that they don’t take his Sunshine away from him.

 

He scoured the shore with Stephen's help, but the night came and there was no sign of Jared.

 

“Jensen, we can’t ... he …”

 

Jensen grunted enraged, what Stefan dared to insinuate was inconceivable. He was determined to keep looking, even if it was a small trace.

 

Jared was still out there.

 

“Go away if you want!” He shouted as he continued to track something, anything, indicating that Jared was still there.

 

Then the sound of a splash made Jensen's heart come back to life.

 

Both bears ran toward the source of the noise.

 

A moan, another splash.

 

Jensen felt the blood rushing back through his whole being.

 

However, a commotion was heard among the fir trees and Jensen panicked. The humans also came in search of Jared.

 

Bastards.

 

“Stephen! You go and save Jared!” He shouted, stopping his motion. Stephen looked him as if it sprouted him another head.

 

“Are you crazy?!! I’ll not leave you here!”

 

“Just go!!! If I don’t stop, they’ll find out where Jared is, I'll stop them enough so you can get him out of there ... please, Stephen,” he begged defeated, no longer hiding his deep anguish for Jared, “he doesn’t know how to swim … do it, please.”

 

“Jensen, you're an …”

 

The whimper was heard again, and Stephen's vacillations dissipated. He nodded and, looking at Jensen for the last time, ran to the river.

 

Jensen sighed in relief, deeply grateful for Stephen's gesture. He turned and, focusing on the sweet memory of shimmering eyes, turned to face the humans.

 

The commotion was coming closer and closer, Jensen stood up, waiting for the attack. Ironically, he felt calm, as if everything was happening to someone else. Such dissociation surprised him.

 

Suddenly, out of the shadows of dense vegetation, a huge dark beast emerged, pushing everything in its path.

 

“¡HANG IN THERE, CHAD !! ¡¡I’M GONNA SAVE YOU!!”

 

The cry took him unawares and could not avoid the impact to collide head-on with that beast. They rolled down the smooth descent of the land that led to the river, as if in slow motion it was. Finally,they ended up sprawled, one on top of the other, at the edge of the water.

 

“Uggggh!!!”

 

Jensen had no time to protest when the other bear jumped off him as spring-driven, speeding toward the river.

 

“Jared????”  He muttered, trying to recover the air that had gone from his lungs.

 

But Jared was already several feet away, calling out Chad and sniffing the air for his trail. The bear are not characterized by good eyesight, but still he scrutinized the murky waters in search of his friend.

 

Jensen didn't notice any of those details, his heart was overflowing with gratitude to the Moon and the Sun for this miracle. Without even remembering the dangers that still lurked in the shadows, he ran after Jared with the strength of 20 bears.

 

_ Jared was fine, he was alive! _

 

The idea urged him to keep running, until he reached Jared and squeezed him all over in a hug.

 

“Jen!” Protested Jared, wanting to get out of his embrace, still distressed by his friend. But Jensen wouldn’t let go, he wanted to hold him in his arms like this for the rest of his life.

 

“¡Jen! ¡Chad is in danger! ¡The humans…!”

 

“Ouch!!!” 

 

“Chad!!!”

 

The splash was close and both bears went there.

 

Chad, soaked to the bone, was trying to stand on all fours but he was having difficulty. Both bears rushed to meet him. Stephen was behind him, shaking his back to remove the excess water. Apparently he had rescued him.

 

Jared let out a shriek and threw himself to the ground when another shot was heard again. Jensen instinctively covered him with his body.

 

The four bears were piled up, all scared against the ground, fearing the worst.

 

“They're gonna kill all of us!” Chad croaked, shivering from head to toe.

 

“We have to run to the forest!” Said Jared, “they are on the other side of the river and the first time they shot us, I fled into the trees. I didn’t realize you didn’t follow me Chad, sorry.”

 

Chad shook his head. Stephen covered his head with his paws, saying something between his teeth that Jensen couldn’t distinguish.

 

“Let's run to the count of 3!” Jared suggested with conviction.   
“Chad, do you think you can do it?”

 

If he couldn't do it, Jensen was looking for another alternative to get Chad out of the middle of the shooting.

 

“I think so, I just twisted a bit my foot when I slipped into the river.” Chad glanced at Jensen, shrugging his shoulders. “I was scared by the noise and I fell into the water.”

 

Nodding, Jensen looked again at Stephen, who didn't seem to pay attention to anything but what he babbled to himself.

 

“And you steph?”

 

“uh?... me?... I’m fine… just gimme a second.”

 

“Stephen just take a deep breath,” Jared replied making doing breathing exercises for Stephen would imitate. For a millisecond, Jensen felt that familiar stab in the guts that he always felt every time he watched Jared dealing with that bear. But when he saw the terror in Stephen's face, he felt like a jerk for feeling it.

 

Shaking off that annoying feeling, he focused on the plan ahead.

 

“Okay, let's do what Jared said; On the count of three.”

 

They all nodded, as the murmur of the river was filling the air.

 

“One… two… THREE!!!”

 

The four bears ran in stampede to the grove. The bullets rang again, Jensen clenched his jaw, keeping his eye on Jared in front of him.

 

“Uggggh!!!”

 

Chad, next to Jared, tried to keep up, but it was obvious that his ankle hurt.

 

“C’mon Chad! Just a little more!” Jensen encouraged.

 

Out of the blue, a bullet flew very close to his head. Jensen screamed, causing Jared to stop his run off.

 

“JENSEN!!!”

 

“Keep running Jay!! Don’t stop!! It’s nothing!! Keep running!!”

 

Jensen pushed Jared with his snout and he looked at him in dismay, biting his lower lip, trying to verify that what he said was true.

 

There were only a few meters away from the woods, but in the middle of the tense situation they seemed miles; Jensen wanted, at least, to reach the most dense area.

 

Finally they came to the grove and the four bears literally dived into the salmonberry bushes.

 

“Keep running!!!”

 

They continued their escape until they reached a ravine. Jensen immediately recognized it. They were within walking distance from Jared's cave.

 

“Just a little more! This way!” Exclaimed Jared in a more lively voice, knowing that they were in his territory.

The four of them headed for the direction Jared indicated.

 

At one point, they were in the middle of a very familiar clearing among the spruces. The Moon, illuminating the entrance to Jared's cave, made Jensen think that it was leading them with her grace.

 

The pernicious weight in his bones -which he had carried since that afternoon, when he reached the grove- was easing as they advanced toward Jared's lair.

 

_ Home. _

 

_ They were at home with Jared.  _

 

_ Jared alive and kicking. _

 

Jensen couldn’t ask for more. He thanked the Heavens, the Sun and the Moon.

 

As soon as they entered the cave the sigh of relief was widespread. Stephen chuckled a little in choked gasps. Chad threw a string of profanities of pure satisfaction, as he sat against one of the rocky walls. Jared dropped to the floor with a soft  _ Uffff,  _ tired but happy.

 

Jensen smiled wearily. His body was now exhausted and his muscles pulsed, as if he had run from his own den to here. Little by little, he felt something stinging in the right side of his face. The adrenaline was dissipating and now the pain began to break on his being. The sensation that something was draining from that side, soaking the fur of his cheek, disconcerted him. He didn’t   remember his face getting wet in the river. 

 

He needed to rest, just that.

 

The last thing he heard, before he passed out on the floor, was Jared’s scream, calling him out through the darkness of unconsciousness.

  
  
  
  
  
  


 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi.... sorry for the late. Here's the last chapter of this fic. My muses were elusive these months, i'm so sorry for the late. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you so much for all your comments and kudos. English is not my first language, sorry for any grammar mistakes.

  
  
  
  
  
  


 

 

 

 

 

_ The world became very strange for Jensen. _

 

_ Sometimes, he thought he heard Jared whimpering. There were shouts, several cries, all spoke at once. They were arguing around him. Jensen wanted to open his mouth and tell them to not worry, he was fine, he was just a little tired but the exhaustion in his being was such that he couldn’t even open his eyes. _

 

_ Everything around him seemed to spin, as if he were back in the river, being caught by a whirlpool of water. His left temple ached and the pain did not subside. If he had been awake, the nausea would have invaded him, he was thankful he was asleep. _

 

_ Sometimes, he was in the cave, on the multicolored bed he shared with Jared. He heard the chestnut bear around him, but as soon as he opened his eyes he was alone, he couldn’t see him anywhere. Another time he walked through the grove, while the Sun slipped through the branches of the trees. He walked and walked with light feet but never crossed paths with anyone. _

 

_ He couldn’t get rid of the stupor that invaded him, all his senses were wrapped in a gray mist. _

 

_ He thought that maybe he was hibernating and that everything that had happened so far was a dream. _

 

_ More cries. Jared asking him to wake up. Stephen saying there was no alternative. Jason - when Jason had arrived? - threatening to break his neck if something happened to him … _

 

_ He felt that he was rolling and rolling down the hill. Like when he was a cub and played to roll the soft hills of his childhood. _

 

_ More voices and it was cold, very cold. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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_ ‘Oh  Moon, I'm not someone who usually pray ... I don’t think I ever did it, except when I was little and hungry and Mom was not with me anymore ... _

 

_ Oh  Moon, Lady of the Skies. Do not take who I love, I ask you to not take him yet. Give me some more time with him, to make memories together, let us have other nights to share under your light. Let him fill my life for a little more time. Even if I keep making mistakes, doing things wrong. Leave him live with me a little more, oh Lady Moon!’ _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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Sarah replayed again and again the video they obtained from one of the cameras hidden in the vicinity of where they had installed 'Stephen', the bear rescued from the circus. Clenching her fist, she hit the roof of the jeep that had brought them here.

 

Fucking poachers.

 

That poor animal must have been terrified. After all, it was those same monsters that had been snatched him from his mother when he was small and then they sold him to the circus. She wanted to kick the stupid face of the ranger chief, Charles Fritzberg.

 

_ Safe Shelter my ass _ , Sarah thought looking sideways at Ryan Patterson, the park ranger who had escorted them here.

 

“The attack was at nightfall. At least we know that all the bears involved fled from the river.”

 

His words didn’t comfort to the documentalist at all.

 

“But there are traces of blood. At least one of them is injured,” she accused, not wanting to talk about the possibility that the injured bear was 'Stephen'. Seeing the humans, maybe he thought they were friendly. She was having doubts about his total integration with the bears in that area, precisely because of his lack of fear towards humans; after all he was raised by men. It was difficult to remove that 'taming', perhaps seeing the hunters, Stephen had a regression in his behavior. Just thinking about it made her stomach sick.

 

“The traces lead to the forest, it’s more likely that the bears have already spread around. We'll have to bring in another team of forest rangers to track them all down,” Ryan proposed, directing his gaze to the grove.

 

“And the poachers?” Matthew asked, already returning with another of the cameras they had left installed on the riverside. Sarah took the device. It was a camera that react to movement. Maybe, they could know in more detail, how many bears were involved.

 

“I’ve already communicated with Charlie, he’s sending a team here. They need the filming to be able to locate them.”

 

Sarah passed the photos almost frantically.

 

“The footage shows that the hunters attacked from the other side of the river. I don’t think we have much more than this ... unless Luke ... Hey Luke!”

Matthew went in search of his partner.

 

"Here it is!" The woman exclaimed, surprising the forest guard who almost startle a little. 

 

Among the photos was a clear photo of 'Stephen', his huge and friendly face with his green distinctive in his ear was unmistakable. He was accompanied by another bear. It wasn’t 'Cinnamon roll', a huge chocolate-colored bear that Ryan identified as one of the 'care bears'. This one had a golden fur.

 

"'Honeybee' was with him."

 

Sarah didn’t recognize him at first, but Ryan was right. 'Honeybee' was the smallest ‘care bear’. The documentalist was surprised. 'Stephen' didn’t get along with 'Honeybee', in fact, they had recently filmed a confrontation between those two.

 

But there were still more pictures. A fourth bear appeared, smaller than the rest.

 

“So there were four bears.”

 

“It’s possible that 'Cinnamon' is in his lair. As for the rest, I don’t know. 'Honeybee' could had retreated to his former territory, but if he roams around here, maybe that's in Cinnamon’s cave too.”

 

"We'll go there then," Sarah concluded, hoping to find them all safe and sound.

 

“I think Luke's camera was able to capture something, guys!” Matt said with another cam in his hand and a triumphant smile on his lips.

  
  


Sarah nodded and Ryan immediately communicated via handy with Fritzberg.

 

The sons of bitches would perhaps get their due.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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_ *Tic...Tic...Tic...Tic…* _

 

_ “Leave him live with me a little more...” _

 

Where he was?

 

_ *Tic… Tic… Tic…* _

 

_ ‘Oh Lady Moon!...’ _

 

The noise was persistent. The smell of damp earth and herbs flooded his senses.

 

_ *Tic… Tic… Tic…* _

 

Jensen opened his eyes and, letting out a breath, looked around. He only saw shadows around him.

 

He was alone? Where he was?

 

His head hurt a little but he tried to get up.

 

“Jensen??”

 

“Huh?”

 

Curled up beside him was Jared, with his disheveled fur and glazed eyes.

 

"For Heaven's sake, Jen!" He shrieked, bringing his snout to his face, licking him on all sides. "I thought you would never wake up! You're good? Does something hurt? I told Jason that the Great Owl from The Northern Mountains would come to visit you! I knew it!. Stephen wanted you to go with the humans who were friendly with him, but the Owl was faster; It also started to rain and nothing could be done about it. Don’t move, Jen! Do you want water? Chad brought some salmon that Christian caught ... "

 

“... Jared....”

 

“... or maybe you want some fresh berries, I collected them before it rained along with the healing herbs that I put …”

 

“... Jay…”

 

“... in your wound, they are good for you, Jen, don’t take them off; and also, if you want honey, maybe I can …”

 

"Sweetheart," Jensen gently replied, stroking Jared's anguished face with one of his paws. The chestnut bear stopped his incessant chatter. And he fixed his multicolored eyes on him. Immediately, his trembling lower lip made a huge pout and broke into tears.

 

“Shhh Jay, don’t cry; I'm fine, see?” Jensen said trying to smile. It was true that his head hurt a little, but it wasn’t much more. Jared sobbed harder and buried his face in Jensen’s neck.

 

“Hey honey, don’t get like that, I'm fine,” Jensen stroked his huge head, giving him a few licks to calm the disconsolate bear.

 

The summer rain continued to fall as a background, it was confused with Jared's crying. Jensen tried to calm him by whispering sweet things like cooing to comfort him.

 

“I thought ... I thought you wouldn’t open your eyes anymore,” said Jared hiccuping, when he calmed down, without taking his face from Jensen's neck. “You wasn’t waking up since a day and a half ago ...  I asked the Moon, whom you love so much, not to let them take you away from me. It seems that she heard my prayer.”

 

Jensen smiled, Jared was not a bear who had the habit of praying to the Moon or the Sun, as he did . He must have been terrified to reach that extreme.

 

“That's where you're wrong, Jay. I don’t love the Moon, I respect her. Besides, the Lady of the Night knows that my love already has an owner.”

 

It was then that Jared came out of his hiding place, to look at him out of the corner of his eye and then hid again in the warmth of his neck. Jensen laughed to see how shy Jared could be. But the laugh ended with an  _ Ouch _ , when he felt a tug on his left temple.

 

Jared just needed that to go back to ‘mama bear mode on’.

 

“It hurts? Don’t touch your wound! Lean your head on the bed, don’t strain yourself, I'll bring you water.”

 

“It was nothing, just a twinge.”

 

“Oh that’s bullshit and you know it! You were shot, Jensen! That’s not just a simple headache! And don’t put that face on me, Jensen. Don’t argue with me."

 

Jensen knew it was better to shut his mouth.

 

Jared got up carefully to not push him and went in search of one of his baskets, this time the blue one. Jensen already missed the warmth of his body at his side.

 

He delicately supported the basket near Jensen's head and urged him to drink. The golden-furred bear brought his snout to the water and began to sip. He hadn’t realized how dry his mouth was until that moment.

 

“You wanna eat something?”

 

Jensen shook his head and then moan. Ok, maybe Jared was right, it wasn’t a simple headache.

 

He lay back again; waiting for Jared to accompany him again, but he kept coming and going looking for-who-knows-what in the deepest part of the cave, where he kept his 'treasures'. The noise of things rolling on the floor and objects dragged from here to there, made Jensen want to get up to see what the hell he was looking for among his trinkets. Finally, the noise stopped and a few awkward steps approached the bed.

 

Unable to turn his head to look, he only saw what Jared was looking for when his huge face of sad cub appeared in his field of vision.

 

He had a piece of pink cloth on his head and from his mouth hung what looked like a vermin. He placed the thingy gently on Jensen's chest and then covered them both with the cloth.

 

“My momma gave me Mr. Whiskers and this blanket when I was very sick. Since then, I'm taking them with me,” he explained solemnly before even Jensen could utter a word. “They helped me heal that time and now they'll help you heal too.”

 

Jensen looked at the battered bug on his chest. He thought it was an animal, apparently it was just 'something'; Mr. Whiskers. He was missing several whiskers and an ear but he wore a huge smile, almost maniacal, stamped on his tiny face.

 

Optimistic little monster.

 

Jared smiled, nodding in satisfaction, seeing that he had made eye contact with Mr. Whiskers, as if Jensen had formed some kind of ‘bond' with that misshapen creepy bug. He put the blanket over them and then lay down beside him, much calmer than when Jensen awoke.

 

“If it stops raining tomorrow, I'll tell Jason that the Great Owl came to visit you while you were sleeping.”

 

Jensen smiled. He wanted to say that the tales about the Great Owl of the Northern Mountains were stories for children, but he didn’t dare to contradict Jared.

 

“It's okay. But I still have a question for you, Jay.”

 

“Go ahead, shoot”.

 

“Why didn’t use Mr. Whiskers and the blanket when you recovered from your injuries last year?”

 

Jared gently stroked Mr. Whiskers head and then Jensen's head.

 

“Because you said you would take care of me, Jen. I trusted you and you did, you took care of me. I was always in your care, in fact I still am, you still care about me.” Jared giggled, looking anywhere but at him. “What I mean, Jen ... I'll let you take care of me ... and you ... will you let me take care of you?”

 

_ Do you trust me? _ It was intrinsic in all that wavering question of the chocolate-colored bear.

 

Does he? He was trusting in Jared? 

 

In his entire being, a single certainty resounded.

 

"The things you say, Jay," the voice was muffled and tremulous. "Since I saw you in this forest, dancing smeared with honey, I left my heart in your hands … Who would I trust my life if it were not you?”

 

Jensen, who always had a hard time talking about his emotions, who was not good at all with words, opened happily like a wild flower in spring in the heat of Jared's love.

 

Jared gave him a smile that shone with the strength of a million suns and those dimples that drove him crazy winked a promise of much more. The blood boiled in his veins and he wished he could do more than just stare at him from his bed.

 

“I love you”

 

Those three simple words were a ringing that threatened to break down all his barriers, if there were any that Jared hadn’t yet knocked down. Jensen felt something sting in his eyes and inside him everything warmed up as if he were laying down under the soft midday sun.

 

“Now, just focus on recovering you,” Jared touched his snout with Jensen’s one. “I'll take care of you.”

 

It was still raining outside, but Jensen's Sun was illuminating and warming that cave with his sweet smile.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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The next day, the news of Jensen's early recovery apparently spread like pollen to the wind. Apparently, some big bee was very busy sharing the good news.

 

Jason found him in the pasture near the cave. After giving him a gentle little nudge by the side in greeting and making sure he was really well, the damn bear laughed at the sight of the little creepy vermin who kept him company while he grazed.

 

Because yes, Jared had gone in search of water and fish to the river, leaving him under the strict condition that Mr. Whiskers would 'supervise' him while he was not there. Needless to say, when Jensen protested, Jared immediately pulled out of his sleeve those puppy eyes and a pout on the verge of tears. He had no power against Jared's secret weapons.

 

“It seems that Jared has you eating from his hand, eh Jen?”

 

“Fuck you, Jason.”

 

Jason laughed shaking his head.

 

“It's good to see that you still keep your excellent good humor, sunshine.” Jensen growled at him, throwing him grass with one of his paws. “But seriously, I'm glad to see you well, dude. We were all very worried. Jared didn’t stop take care of you, applying medicinal herbs and didn’t want anyone to come to his cave after …”

 

But Jason stopped and his face tensed.

 

“After what, Jason?”

 

His friend clicked his tongue.

 

"Jay didn’t tell you?"

 

Jensen shook his head. In his mind, he began to draw twenty possibilities on what happened.

 

“There was a little 'disagreement' while you were unconscious …” Jason scratched the back of his neck, nervous, “I think we were all a nuisance rather than a help at the time. Jared knew what to do instinctively. I never saw him as focused or as angry as that time. He shouted that we had to do our best for you and, furious, he threw us out of there. He said he didn’t want us there if we weren’t going to help.”

 

Jensen was speechless, Jared wasn’t someone who got angry easily, unless it was one of his friends having a bad time. He remembered that time when Chad had been attacked by another bear to take his territory. Jared was enraged and it seemed that his more than 9 feet high became 19. He was a huge bear and seeing him furious was something frightening to contemplate. Jensen appreciated never having seen that side of Jared focused directly on him. He wondered what they had discussed on that occasion to make him so angry.

 

“Jen!!”

 

The singsong voice of the chestnut bear interrupted his thoughts.

 

Jared, seeing him, began to jog merrily, his red basket full of fish swaying from his mouth, dropping some salmon on his way -salmons that Chad, scowling, picked up behind him-. Stephen was coming too, with the blue basket full of water, he seemed pleased. Something inside Jensen started bubbling inevitably. The new bear was not yet a saint of his devotion.

 

“Jen!!! Look what Stephen fished for you!!” Exclaimed his partner happily and, although he was grateful that Jared didn’t go fishing to the river - it still didn’t go away from his memory when Jared almost drowned trying to fish - he didn’t like, not even a little bit, that the blond have taken his place in fishing. “I caught some for you too!!”

 

Ok, that was more dangerous than the blondie acting as if he were the player of the season.

 

“Really?”

 

Jensen tried to sound nonchalant about it, but the murderous look he was throwing to Stephen said the opposite. That idiot swore to him that he would take care of Jared!

 

Stephen shrugged, while Jared explained the whole experience enthusiastically, ignoring the exchange of glances between the blonde and Jensen, and the immense face of 'here we go again' of Jason and Chad.

 

“... I caught four big ones! You should have seen me, Jen! Well in the end Stephen and Chad said it was enough, so I decided to collect water and some pebbles on the riverbank.”

 

"And before you start bitching like a dick, Jay was in the quietest, safest part of the river, with Steph and me taking care of his back. Okay?" Chad muttered, after leaving the fish he had collected back in the basket.

 

Jensen nodded with a slight growl, still looking at Jared who was talking nonstop about what happened, with a spark in his eyes. For the Moon’s sake, he loved that bear! Jensen would do anything to keep that face full of life as he had it now.

 

“..., Jen?”

 

The question stopped his thoughts, he blinked twice, without having the faintest idea about what Jared was asking him.

 

‘I’m sorry… what was the question?”

 

Jared clicked his tongue, shaking his huge head.

 

“Seriously Jen, sometimes you seem to lock yourself in your little world and leave us all out.” Jared's voice wanted to sound mad but it was more theatrical than anything else.

 

“I asked you if you have eaten your herbs.”

 

Jensen grimaced, nodding.

 

It was true, bears are omnivores, but that didn’t mean that all the options they had to eat were appealing to them. Jensen definitely didn’t like medicinal herbs, dandelions were disgusting and salvia stayed between his teeth. On the other hand, the clover wasn’t bad at all.

 

Jared smiled and took Mr. Whiskers carefully with one of his paws.

 

"The herbs are going to help you recover and I'm sure the Great Owl from The Northern Mountains will agree with me that they are excellent for healing wounds."

 

Jensen made an effort not to roll his eyes, like the rest of the group, at Jared's mention of that mythical being again.

 

The group finally said goodbye to the pair of bears, but not before laughing a little more at expense of Jensen, which, at that time, was the object of Jared's most ridiculous attentions. The gang retreated the moment Jared tried to put salmon in his mouth, Jensen had never felt more like a pampered cub than at that moment.

 

“Ok, Jensen, open your mouth wide as if you were yawning. Like this: 'Aaaahhh'”

 

“Really, Jay, I can …”

 

“Aaaaaaahh….”

 

“You know that I still can feed myself, do you? ”

 

“Wide, wide open like this: Aaaahhh…” 

 

“Cut the hell out, Jay! I can feed by myself!”

 

“...”

 

“No ... shit!, I didn’t mean that ... no, Jay wait!, w-w-where are you going?”

 

“...”

 

“Jared...¿sweetie?”

 

“...”

 

“No, no, sweetheart! Forgive me, I didn’t mean … No, Jared, don’t take Mr. Whiskers away! Jay!”

 

But Jared didn’t want to hear him. He kept running to his cave with Mr whiskers hanging from his mouth.

 

_ Dammit!!. _

  
  
  
  


By the time he reached the den Jensen's stomach was protesting loudly, but he couldn’t eat knowing that he had hurt his partner's feelings. He should talk to Jared and apologize for what he had said; he just wanted to help, maybe he was a little extreme in his efforts to take care of him but that didn’t mean that ...

 

Jensen entered to the lair and saw the huge bear huddled in his multicolored bed, turning his back on the entrance to the cave. From time to time, his body trembled giving a sign of life.

 

“Sweetheart?”

 

“...*sniff*…”

 

Oh shit, it had made him cry again.

 

"Babe, I shouldn’t have told you that ..."

 

“...*SNIFF*...”

 

“... You know how I am ... I'm not used to being like this and...and it's hard for me, I …”

 

“No ... it's okay ... I understand.”

 

When Jared finally answered him, his voice was trembling and muffled.

 

"No, it's not okay, you wanted to help me and I shouldn’t have yelled at you. It's just that I'm not used to being like this, Jay ... "

 

“...”

 

“I’ve never depended on anyone since I left my mother's den and being like that is ... terrifying.”

 

The truth is that he felt helpless, unable to do anything but sit and eat herbs, waiting for Jared and the rest to bring him food and water.

 

“But you told me you’d let me take care of you …”

 

“It's true, Jay and I'm sorry.”

 

“Oh...Ok… I get it.”

 

His voice sounded more dulled and Jensen knew Jared hadn’t understood anything. He approached him and buried his nose in the soft fur of his back.

 

Wild honey, wood and flowers.

 

“No… you don’t get it at all, love.”

 

He felt as Jared abruptly expelled the air from his lungs, almost furiously.

 

“You'll see love, I'm sorry because I made you a promise and I forgot it for a second. I'm sorry because I hurt you when you just wanted to help. I'm sorry because it’s hard for me, but it doesn’t mean I don’t trust you, it's just that I don’t trust myself being like that. I'm sorry because, even loving you as I do, I'm still making you cry.”

 

Jared sighed and it seemed that with it, he cleared any doubt that he had in his heart.

 

“Bobo bear. I love you too,” Jared said sobbing, after a while.   
  


Jensen smiled, still with his nose buried in the fur of his partner.

 

Jared turned and Jensen could finally see where he had buried his snout all that time. The pink blanket covered his face. Jensen took it off, but not before struggling for a moment because Jared preferred to be sheltered in his hiding place. His vibrant, iridescent eyes were reddened releasing a couple of tears.

 

Jensen smiled, licking his forehead.

 

In that moment, his belly grumbled in protest. Whatever they say, a bear that respects itself cannot live eating just grass and flowers.

 

“You didn’t eat yet, don’t you?”

 

Jensen shook his head.

 

"Will you take care of me, Jared?"

 

The chestnut bear rubbed his face with the blanket and took Mr. Whiskers.

 

“You silly bear. Here”

 

"Do you think eating Mr Whiskers is gonna be healthy for me?"

 

“Don’t you dare! Just wait here, now I’m gonna bring you the basket with salmon.”

 

Jared got up in a flash and headed looking for the basket outside their den. Jensen sat down to wait, holding Mr. Whiskers carefully with his paws.

 

Jared was about to leave, when he suddenly came back, just to give him a huge lick in the nose. A smile full of dimples was drawn on his kind face of friendly bear.

 

“And you don’t make me cry, Jensen, I'm a crybaby bear. Deal with it Mr, if you want to live with me”

 

He winked at Jensen and said goodbye with another lick.

 

Jensen never had seen a bear more sassy than Jared. And he was pretty sure that he never gonna met another bear like that in his whole bear life.

 

"I know, Mr. Whiskers, it’s a crazy ass bear, but I love him."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\~~~~~~

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**_2 months later …_ **

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The capture of a guide and two illegal hunters had made headlines a few weeks ago in the small town of Kodiak. The rumors that they intended to hunt down a legendary giant Alaskan bear, much larger than any other on the island, was the sensation of the moment. It was said that a group of documentalists were involved in the capture of those poachers and everything was filmed in a documentary for Animal Planet.

 

For Kathya, this wasn’t something spectacular, but for a smalltown as Kodiak, this was the hottest gossip since 

since Pitbull came to the island to give a concert. The giant bear was now a local celebrity. But still nobody had seen more than a couple of blurry photos that seized the hunters and had filled the front page of the local newspaper.

 

The documentary would be released today at night and, to her surprise, would be narrated by nothing more and nothing less than Meryl Streep. It's not that Kathya cared, but not having anything more interesting to watch tonight, she would watch the so-called documentary that everyone in the town were talking about.

 

If a couple of friends came to watch with her the documentary at home, it wasn’t something unusual.

 

Maybe she had said something on Twitter, about doing a livetweet about the aforementioned program and, perhaps, a small online community were a little excited about the documentary tonight. It's not like she was obsessing over the hashtag #honeybeeandcinnamonroll on Twitter, ok? She wasn’t like her friends, who liked to read absurd theories about bears that might not even really exist. That was all to increase the ratings of that documentary.

 

Finally the time came and the long-awaited documentary began.

 

At first, it focused on the life of poor little bear Stephen and the hard life he had in an illegal circus in Canada. Kathya tweeted about it with her heart squeezed by the animals rescued from that horrid place.

 

Then, the adaptation work done by the rescue team was shown, so that the bear could finally live in The Refuge for Wildlife on the island.

 

It was there that the documentary took an unexpected turn, when park ranger Ryan Patterson explained, scratching his head in bewilderment, the discovery he had made. Not only he had found the biggest bear on the entire Kodiak Island, but apparently, it was gay.

 

Ok, now Kathya was on the edge of the seat ... so everything she had read online was true? On Twitter, the hashtag #honeybeeandcinnamonroll exploded with bursts of joy because, apparently, Cinnamon roll was real.

 

But that didn’t make Honeybee real... or was it?

 

Kathya couldn’t contain a squeak when she saw Honeybee appearing on the scene. By then, her friends were filling social networks with a ridiculous video of her and her little screech of joy.

 

Seeing how Honeybee took care of Cinnamon Roll was the most adorable thing she had ever seen and, soon, the title of "Care Bears", given to them by the documentalist, fit perfectly.

 

The surprise was even bigger when she  watched that little bear Stephen was interested in Cinnamon Roll. The fight between Honeybee and Stephen was disheartening.

 

“Poor little Honeybee. I just hope that everything will be resolved well #notsocarebears,” she tweeted from her cell phone.

 

The exile and separation of the Care Bears couple was cried via social media. There were some who said that everything would end there.

 

The entire audience turned to sigh of relief, via social media, when Cinnamon roll went to win back his love.

 

But the abrupt arrival of the fucking illegal hunters destroyed everything. The team of documentalists found traces of blood and everyone thought the worst. Honeybee or Stephen had died.

 

The commercial break was the most agonizing of all. Kathya didn’t want to look at her phone that was filled with notifications. Her friends and her fell into a sepulchral silence.

 

The commercials ended and, finally, it could be known that Honeybee had been shot. Kathya couldn’t believe it. Damn hunters...damn rotten world.

 

But then the sun came out again, it could be seen that Honeybee was still alive, his temple was just scratched by the bullet. Cinnamon roll was all over him and, although Honeybee grumbled from time to time, he let Cinnamon take care of him.

 

The documentary ended with several questions about the behavior of these bears, while they were going to hibernate another winter, together in their cave.

 

Kathya felt a tear roll on one of her cheeks.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\~~~~~~\\\\\\\\\\\~~~~~~

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


What made Jensen think of no one but Jared every heat season? What make him go against his own survival instincts, when he protects his partner or feed him instead of himself? Why he couldn’t live without him by his side anymore?

 

“Maybe it's because we're more like salmon, Jen, maybe we're just fish out of water after all”.

 

Jensen looked at him for an answer. Jared smiled and lay down in the soft grass of that prairie, picked up some Dandelions and blew them out, spraying them into the air. He watched him among the cloud of seeds that floated around him. Jared was as beautiful as the Moon, Jensen thought.

 

“We're going against the tide, against the waves of this World”.

 

For a moment, Jared's eyes sank into the horizon. The silence between them was warm and comforting.

 

“I don’t care if I’m going against the tide. If I'm with you, I can keep fighting with it” replied smaller bear, without taking his eyes off his lover.

 

Jared looked at him as if it were that first time. It was a fire that was only lit by him.

 

That afternoon Jensen would make love to him and tonight he would thank the Moon for having him by his side. Jared would sigh a 'thank you' to the Great Northern Owl for having found his Jensen.

 

The air indicated that autumn was approaching to the island. The weather changed and the island changed. But nothing changed the deep love that those both bears shared.

  
  
  



End file.
